Day 7: Last Few Hours in Shanghai, at Ju Lu Lu (巨鹿路)

There wasn't much planned today other than doing lunch at Shintori (新都里). It's one of Lin's and my fav restaurants in Shanghai and we have been patronizing it for years since Gwendel first introduced Shintori to us. We love the lofty interior and fully opened kitchen. :)

Unique tableware :)

Cheesy Prawn Rolls and Tempura :)

Pretty colours :)

Assorted platter :)

Beautiful sliced beef cooked over leaf & stone :)

Chilled soba on ice bowl. :) 

Green tea ice cream, tofu cheesecake and assorted dessert platter :)

and completing our meal with green tea & coffee :)

Awesome lunch & girly company. :))) 

Plus fabulous shopping at Ju Lu Lu. Our Sunday couldn't get any better. :) I got myself a pretty white dress and Ann's the ultimate shopping Goddess! :))) She bought lots of stuff here! This is what we meant shopping to the very last minute in Shanghai.

Details of Shintori (新都里):
803 Julu Rd, near Fumin Lu 
巨鹿路803號, 近富民路
T: +86 54045252

Day 2: A Goodnight Rest at Crowne Plaza Huangshan Yucheng

We arrived at Crowne Plaza Huangshan Yucheng at about 6.30pm this evening. Crowne Plaza is perhaps the only international hotel chain here. It's been in operation for a couple of months.

Our comfy room for a much needed rest to climb Huangshan tomorrow.

Our mini rice cooker joined us for this China exploration too! :) Dinner was a bowl of Kimchi noodles and mikan jelly. We were too tired to head out. 

Details of Crowne Plaza Huangshan Yucheng:
No. 1 Huizhou Road
Tunxi Huangshan
China 245000
T: +86 559 2591 888

W: http://www.ihg.com/crowneplaza/hotels/us/en/huangshan/txncp/hoteldetail

Hotpot Dinner at Megan's Kitchen (美味廚)

Beanie thought we were having dinner at a private kitchen when we told him we were going to Megan's Kitchen. He was hence, a little disappointed Megan's Kitchen serves hotpots instead. Lol! :)))

I give credit to Megan's Kitchen for being so creative in their soup bases. We opted for rainbow soup base which essentially makes up of assorted veg jellies which we added to the boiling water to give it flavour :) Cute eh?

As in all hotpot places in HK, we customize our own dipping sauces. :)

And we were given preserved century eggs & cucumbers to kick start our dinner. :)

We were thrilled by the rainbow cuttlefish balls to take note of their taste. :))) We dislike the ones with corns though.

Lin also ordered pork balls with mangoes for Beanie, Wendy & herself. Xueyi hates fruits and I dislike mangoes; so that's out for us. *.* Anyway they didn't finish them as the mangoes & pork just didn't go. According to Beanie, they tasted weird.

The best balls went to mui choy pork balls. Awesome combi here. :D

The pork & beef slices were irresitable. :) We wiped out all three plates. which wasn't much...seriously. ;)

Every hotpot requires fresh prawns and deep fried fish skins. :) Don't you agree?

As for the dumplings, Imperial Treasure Steamboat Restuarant in Singapore does better ones. ;) Megan's Kitchen was generous with the serving size though.

I really like the cuttle fish noodles which the server squeezed out from a piping bag. They were thick and very Q. Ok...it resembled a maggot in my photo... *.*

I like having two types of noodles for our hotpot and rice vermicilli was our second choice this evening. We had rainbow cuttlefish balls vermicilli. ;) The colourful balls brighten up the plain vermicilli instantly. :D

Some healthy stuff... :)

And we were totally stuffed... :)))

Megan's Kitchen earned a Bib Gourmand in the Michelin Guide. I wouldn't say this is the best hotpot we have eaten but Megan's Kitchen is definitely creative in its offerings.

Lastly for dessert (as we have room for any), we headed to Hoi Tin Tong (海天堂) because Wendy's down with a bad throat! Xueyi recommended Gui Ling Gou as it has cooling properties that will help soothe the throat.

Details of Megan's Kitchen (美味廚):

5/F Lucky Centre

165-171 Wan Chai Road

Wan Chai

灣仔灣仔道165至171號

樂基中心5樓

T: +856 2866 8305

W: www.meganskitchen.com

Details of Hoi Tin Tong (海天堂):

W: http://www.hoitintong.com.hk/

Celebrating Mom's Birthday at Chui Huay Lim - Round 1

Mom's turning 60 and we did an early celebration for her at Chui Huay Lim Teochew Cuisine.

The place was packed on a Monday.

The birthday celebration started with steamed birthday buns for the birthday girl. The buns were soft but the bean paste filling was too dry.

The Teochew cold crabs were fleshy & sweet and packed with crab roes! :) Who cares about cholestrol? ;)

I'm usually not into deep fried traditional Teochew five spice rolls but these were pretty good. I had two to three I think! :)))

Next dish, pig trotter jelly was a no go for me. But grandmom loves it! :)

I'm not into Teochew fried oyster omelette too. Yahui had lots of it, including my share! :D

Teochew style steamed promfret at it freshest. Loving it! The broth was light but flavourful, further enhancing the sweetness of the fish. :)

The braised conpoy with eight vegetarian treasures were bursting with flavours.

The bean sprouts gave the fried seafood noodle extra crunch. It wasn't too oily. Nice. :)

The Teochew "Puning" fermented bean chicken was well, an acquired taste. The chicken was very tender though. Beneath the chicken were preserved mustard. Uncle Francis seemed to like it alot...





















Braised goose is one of the must haves when we have Teochew cuisine. Unfortunately it was badly done at Chui Huay Lim. The meat was extremely tough. *.*  A big minus here...We told the manager about it, and she told us it was an old goose...if you know it's an old goose & the meat is going to be tough, why bother serving it in the first place???

We had two types of desserts to sweeten our dinner. First up was yam paste with pumpkin & ginkos. It was smooth & wasn't too sweet. :)

We didn't think the sugar encrusted yam sticks was well done. To do this well, the taro has to be really good.

And here's us with our guests. :)

Details of Chui Huay Lim Teochew Cuisine:

190 Keng Lee Road

#01-02 Chui Huay Lim Club

Singapore 308409

T: +65 6732 3637

W: http://www.chlteochewcuisine.com.sg/

Mikan Jellies for Dessert? Anytime! :)

Lin came home for lunch today. :) And guess what we had for dessert? Our all time fav, mikan jellies. ^.^ Yeah!

We never feel guilty eating them. Look at the generous serving of wholesome mikan slices. Sweet, juicy...need I say more? :)

These mikan jellies are available at Meidi-Ya or Cold Storage (Ngee Ann City) supermarkets. :)